The scene switches to black-and-white, which is our cue that I am not writing a made-up scene, but rather recapping a hallucination. Don't tell me this episode's going to turn into Jacob's Ladder. Anyway, we hear "Christmas in December" -- insert the caustic comments about using pop culture to add layers on meaning here -- and then Nicky's dad pops on the scene in mid-autopsy to comment, "He'll look great at the funeral. His mother will appreciate that." It's worth noting that Nicky's eyebrows in this scene were borrowed from Joan Crawford. David digs out Nicky's heart and hands it over to Judge Cisco with, "Your son had a good heart."

And then, thank God, the hallucination's over. Nicky looks horrified to discover he's still covered with ants, buried underground, and heading towards suffocation.

Everybody digs frantically. Warrick stops only when his watch goes off to tell him Nicky's out of air. Time's up! No point in hurrying now. A dehydrated, blistering, choking Nicky has finally had enough: he begins bringing the gun toward his jaw.

Everyone stands around and stares real hard at Warrick digging. As he digs, Nicky jams the barrel of the gun under his jaw and steels himself. He hoarsely gasps syllables which may be loose approximations of "Three...two…" but before he can get to "… one," there are flashlights in his eyes, and Warrick's sweeping dirt off the lid of the coffin. Warrick pounds on the lid, saying, "We got you, man. Nicky! Nicky! Hey -- hold on there! Hey! Put that down! Put that down! We got you! Hang in there!"

Inspirational music swells, the entire audience begins rooting for Warrick and Nicky to just swap manly hugs already, and Gil looks like he's making up for a lifetime of holding emotions at bay by deciding to try them all at once. Nicky drops the gun and begins sobbing. Warrick catches sight of all those blisters and bellows, "Awwww...oh, my God! We need that fire extinguisher! Gimme that fire extinguisher." Liam brings it on over and covers Nicky as Gil instructs, "Short bursts! Don't suffocate him!" We get an eminently satisfying TMIcam shot of the ants freezing on Nicky's arm as they're hit by the spray. Warrick keeps talking to Nicky while Sara tries to make herself useful by bellowing for the paramedics. Wow, she really hasn't had a lot to do this episode. Warrick continues talking to Nicky through the coffin as they keep blasting the ants.